The Insurance Guarantee Fund commented on the proposal of the Financial Ombudsman to reduce fines for drivers who did not issue OSAGO on time. “The fines are among the lowest in Europe,” the report says.
PLN 1,200 for a break in car insurance cover up to 3 days. PLN 3,010 for a break of 4 to 14 days and PLN 6,020 for a break of more than two weeks. These are the fines that the Insurance Guarantee Fund (SFG) imposes on drivers who forget about insurance. However, there are situations in which it cannot be said that it is the fault of the punished person only. The financial ombudsman drew attention to this, citing, for example, ongoing inheritance cases or the car owner being in the hospital. “The Financial Ombudsman calls for the introduction of a new gradation of punishments for persons for whom the principle of prolongation, that is, the automatic renewal of the OC policy after a year, writes Interia.
OFG refuses
The UFG responded to the proposal to reduce fines. Representatives of this institution do not agree with the postulate and point out that at present the fines are still relatively low, as for the conditions of the European Union. “FGD data show that in the overwhelming majority of cases, the Fund’s debtors are persons who have been without compulsory civil liability insurance for more than 14 days. This applies to more than 2/3 of all cases considered by the Fund. The number of cases where the break in protection was no more than 3 days is less than 1/5 of all cases in the same period,” Interia points out. He also cites a representative of the Insurance and Guarantee Fund, who ensures that the fee is preventive in nature. “In addition to the interests of the victims, it is also the protection of the property of the perpetrator of the harm, since the meaning and purpose is to cause such behavior of the vehicle owner, which will lead to the conclusion of an OP PPM agreement. In this context, it is more appropriate to compare the amount of the premium, even the maximum one, not with the average amount of the insurance premium (PLN 500-600), but with the average amount of the UFG recourse. At the end of September this year, it amounted to about PLN 20,000. This is the average amount to be reimbursed to an uninsured person responsible for the damage/owner of a vehicle for which the Foundation paid benefits and satisfied the claims of the people affected by it,” says Damian Sönber from the Foundation.
The debts of the perpetrators of the accident to the Insurance Guarantee Fund amount to more than PLN 310 million.
Fortunately, there are ways to make the gap penalty less noticeable. The Fund rather does not list fines, but can distribute them in installments or defer them. However, apparently, the duties will not decrease and there will be no “preferential tariff”.
Source: Wprost
